1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a board game, and more particularly, a Halloween afternoon at Dracula's Castle board game.
The Halloween season is often over-shadowed by the impending Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, which are more widely celebrated. For people who love Halloween, the season can be a bit anticlimactic. For example, there are very few, if any, Halloween-themed board games currently on the market; however, there are many Christmas-themed games currently being sold. Therefore, families and friends may not have a wide variety of activities to feature at Halloween parties and get-togethers. An effective solution is necessary.
The Halloween Afternoon at Dracula's Castle board game is designed for ages thirteen and up. This unique game combines Halloween trivia and strategic playing, creating a fun and challenging activity for friends and families. Perfect for parties and get-togethers, this game can bring the spirit of the Halloween season into any home.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous innovations for themed board games have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention.
A FIRST EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,339,135, Issued on Jul. 13, 1982, to Breslou et al. teaches an electronic computer game and method includes a matrix of 25 LED's (light emitting diodes) and two sets of push button switches positioned on opposite sides of the matrix. Each set of push buttons comprises a group of five push buttons corresponding to the five rows of the matrix and a group of five push buttons corresponding to the five columns of the matrix. Each set of push buttons is arranged so that the ten fingers of a player may be placed on the push buttons and any one of the LED's in the matrix may be rapidly selected by either player by simultaneous actuation of one push button in each of his groups. A game selector switch may be moved to select one of a number of games of action, reaction or strategy each of which is controlled by a microprocessor which stores selection of LED's by each player, sets up random patterns on the matrix which are randomly altered, keeps track of each player's score and provides audible and visual signals informing the players of the progress of the game, etc.
A SECOND EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,391,447, Issued on Jul. 5, 1983, to Dudley teaches an electronic game for positional games such as chess comprises a playing board and a plurality of playing pieces, each piece being movable between playing positions on the playing board in accordance with a predetermined pattern which is influenced by the locations of other playing pieces. Each playing piece is encoded in accordance with its identity, and each playing position automatically responds to the encoding when it is occupied by a playing piece. An electrical circuit associated with the playing position causes other positions to which the playing piece is capable of moving to be illuminated with an appropriate color. Each playing piece includes light sources which are illuminated when the playing piece is in jeopardy of being captured by an opposing playing piece or is covered by a friendly playing piece. The intensity of attack and the depth of cover may also be indicated. The playing pieces are automatically oriented in a predetermined manner when they are placed on a playing position in order to establish electrical contact between electrical terminals on the base of the playing piece and electrical terminals on the playing position.
A THIRD EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,541,633, Issued on Sep. 17, 1985, to Newbill teaches an electronic strategy game featuring playing fields comprising two chess-like boards each of which may contain 64 squares and be separated from each other by a partition of suitable size to conceal the moves made by each player and two sets of chessmen positioned on each board. Each square has a sensor embedded in its base arranged to transmit to an electronic processing unit the location of all chessmen on the game boards. The electronic processing unit determines the game status, controls announcements to the players, and includes logic whereby the position of all chessmen are maintained in a memory and moves are regulated in accordance with predetermined rules such as the rules of chess. Requests for additional status information and the selection of optional game features are transmitted to the electronic processing unit via two control panels located one on each game board. The electronic game includes features not normally available to players utilizing a human referee. These features include “timed games” where each player has a limited amount of time to execute his next move and a replay feature where the previous game can be automatically replayed to allow the players to determine whether their analysis of the battlefield conditions were correct.
A FOURTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,772,027, Issued on Sep. 20, 1988, to Martel et al. teaches a board game which comprises a board on which objects can be placed by participating players. An electrically powered sensor/indicator device is mounted to the board, the device incorporating electronic logic circuitry and indicator elements connected to the logic circuitry. A plurality of triggering devices are electrically connected to the logic circuitry. The triggering devices are operable by players of the game and the logic circuitry is actuatable by the triggering devices to electrically operate the indicator elements to signify a player who has first operated one of the triggering devices.
A FIFTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,462,281, Issued on Oct. 31, 1995, to Gaito et al. teaches a board game defines a plurality of playing positions in the form of a gridwork including a plurality of discrete, electrically isolated, metal frames, each frame enclosing one of the playing positions and supporting a translucent coextensive window. Playing pieces, some being of different types, are movable between playing positions in accordance with a predetermined pattern dependent upon their type and influenced by the locations of other playing pieces. A regulating system selectively alters a sensible characteristic at each of the playing positions to thereby alter an attribute of a playing piece which lands on a certain one of the playing positions. This is done by successively illuminating each of the playing positions by means of one or more colored electric lamps or by providing no illumination at all. The regulating system has a first operating mode for manually altering the illumination at each of the playing positions and a second operating mode for randomly altering the illumination at each of the playing positions. The regulating system also includes touch circuitry responsive to sequential touches by a user to operate, in sequence, a first lamp alone at a playing position, then a second lamp alone at that playing position, then no lamp at that playing position. The regulating system can also randomly operate the lamps at the playing positions, and is also capable of adjusting the time interval between random operations and the random number generating means and the number of the playing positions subject to such random operations.
A SIXTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,662,328, issued on Sep. 2, 1997, to Pecoy teaches a board game includes a game board which includes a predetermined number of start/stop positions, a predetermined number of trick or treat positions, and a single endless path which includes a start/stop path portion adjacent to the start/stop positions and a trick-or-treat path portion adjacent to the trick or treat positions. The endless path defines an interior board region which includes a first capture region, a second capture region, a first safe region, and a second safe region. The endless path includes a sequential array of segments which include capture-free segments interspersed with capture-susceptible segments. A predetermined number of groups of Halloween treat cards are provided which corresponds to the predetermined number of trick or treat positions. A predetermined number of treat-receiving player tokens are provided. A first player-capturing token is associated with the first capture region, and a second player-capturing token is associated with the second capture region. During their respective turns, the first and second capture tokens are enabled to capture a specific treat-receiving player token when the specific treat-receiving player token lands on a capture-susceptible segment of the endless path. A pair of dice is used for determining a number of segments along the endless path that a specific treat-receiving player token advances during its turn.
A SEVENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 6,446,968, issued on Sep. 10, 2002, to Koch teaches a themed board game, that is family oriented and recreates the fun and wonder of Halloween, preferably for 3 to 8 players (ages preferably 8 and older), and takes about one hour to play. A game board has printed thereon a thematic scene, a preferred example of which being a Haunted House. Twin sets of cards each include three category groups: a place category (depicted as locations of the Haunted House), an entity category (Halloween related persons or things, as for example a werewolf, a witch, a ghost, etc.), and an event category (Halloween related occurrences, as for example a scream, a laugh, a howl, an odor, etc.). A randomizing instrument is provided, preferably in the form of a single die which preferably may uniquely include a Halloween indicia in place of the six dots face (as for example a cat or a jack-o-lantern). Three cards, one from each category are secretly selected, the indicia of which form a Haunting Mystery. Players try to solve the Haunting Mystery by deducing which of the cards in play have no matching duplicate. This objective is achieved in the course of play by a careful process of elimination of possibilities by each player using his/her “Tracking Chart”.
AN EIGHTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Publication No. 2004/0119230, Published on Jun. 24, 2004, to Cipullo teaches a new game is provided that involves strategy and racing through the use of game units comprising a plurality of game pieces, wherein the game promotes teamwork and cooperation. This game is governed by at least one rule requiring that the plurality of game pieces of each game unit be within a predetermined number of spaces. Although this rule is a constraint on the movement of the game pieces, this game preferably gives players the opportunity to use this rule as a shield or sword. The game can be played in solitude, but is preferably played with multiple persons. The game ends when a game unit returns to a home position, but the player with the greatest number of points, preferably treats, is the winner.
A NINTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 6,942,217, issued on Sep. 13, 2005, to Cipullo teaches a new game that involves strategy and racing through the use of game units comprising a plurality of game pieces, wherein the game promotes teamwork and cooperation. This game is governed by at least one rule requiring that the plurality of game pieces of each game unit be within a predetermined number of spaces. Although this rule is a constraint on the movement of the game pieces, this game preferably gives players the opportunity to use this rule as a shield or sword. The game can be played in solitude, but is preferably played with multiple persons. The game ends when a game unit returns to a home position, but the player with the greatest number of points, preferably treats, is the winner.
A TENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 7,219,894, issued on May 22, 2007, to Stewart et al. teaches board games which may include a game board, player movers, and indicia-bearing tokens and player-wearable costume components including one or more mounting sites to which the tokens may be removably attached. Some embodiments may further include game pieces having indicia indicating one or more of the tokens. Thus, some methods of game play may involve each player attempting to collect a predetermined set of tokens by determining if various game pieces indicate any of the tokens in the set. Other methods may involve concealing the indicia on one or more game pieces, and allowing players to attempt to guess the concealed indicia by the process of elimination.
AN ELEVENTH EXAMPLE, U.S. Patent Office Publication No. 2007/0284816, Published on Dec. 13, 2007, to Drouhard teaches a method of playing a board game of pursuit for at least one of a first and a second player; where the board includes a pathway made up from a number of discrete squares and includes at least a starting position. The method of play includes the steps of the first and second players taking alternating turns to determine the number of squares to move along the pathway; deciding whether to move in one of a first and a second direction along the pathway; and positioning a marker at the square so determined. The game ends when the second player is able to position their marker on the same square as the first player. The board may also be provided with a finishing position remote from the starting position. In this instance, the game ends when the first player reaches the finishing position prior to the second player being able to position their marker on the same square as the first player. The game may include hazards along the pathway that require the players to pay a penalty before resuming play. The game may further include objects positioned on squares along the pathway that need to be collected by one or both of the players during play.
It is apparent now that numerous innovations for themed board games have been provided in the prior art that are adequate for various purposes. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, accordingly, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.